Brocode: Beacon
by Dunkacoke
Summary: Ren and Jaune were always happy with who they were, or so they liked to believe. However, when a harmless comment gets them questioning their masculinity, the pair turn to the only ones they know can help them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Bros From the Beginning

Team JNPR were simply lounging around in their room, enjoying the time away from classes. Or most of them were. Nora was busy amusing herself with games on her scroll. Ren was using the most of this peace and quiet, taking the time to get some reading done. Pyrrha was spending some quality time with her was being forced to do his homework by Pyrrha.

Enjoying their time.

Which is why they were all caught off guard when a loud rapping sounded on their door. "I'll get it!" Nora immediately exclaimed, jumping off her bed inhumanly fast and answering the door to reveal the entirety of team RWBY.

"Alright losers we're coming in!" Yang announced as JNPR's sister team barged into the less-than-spacious room. "We were bored and decided you guys needed us to liven up your boring lives."

"If you guys are the ones who are bored, why is it that our lives are boring?" Ren questioned, only to be ignored by the swarm of girls flooding in.

"And we brought snacks!" Ruby exclaimed proudly, revealing a plate filled to the brim with cookies, while the others carried chips and drinks.

"Well I guess they can stay then," Jaune stated, eyes fixed on the food that had been hand delivered. Pyrrha, on the other hand, looked at her leader skeptically.

"Jaune, what about your assignment? You still need to finish that."

"Oh, good point. As the team leader, I've decided that team RWBY definitely must stay." Pyrrha's shocked cry was lost among the combined cheers of team RWBY and Nora.

"Alright! What does everyone want to do?"

"Oh-oh-oh! We should have a girls night!" Ruby was quick to reply to Nora's question. "It could be like a slumber party!"

"Oh ya, and we could play truth or dare, paint our nails and talk about boys!" Weiss remarked, the sarcasm dripping off her words.

"Hey, good idea Weiss!" Yang promptly ignored the sarcasm.

"What? No, I was jo-"

"It would be a good way to unwind for a while…"

"No! Blake, I wasn't seri-"

"Oohhhh! It'll be just like in the movies!"

Weiss didn't have the energy to deny then all. "Ugh, fine. What do you guys want to do first?"

Ren tuned out the rest of the conversation as he moved to sit by Jaune, and the food. He was less than ecstatic at the turn which this evening's activities had taken. Not only was it going to be quite loud, but it was also something he wanted to avoid taking part in at all costs. "Regretting your decision?"

"Not yet," Jaune replied between mouthfuls of food. "I got out of doing the work, and free food. I can survive them having a girls night, I got seven sisters. The trick is to hide in the corner and only talk when directly spoken to."

Ren was surprised by his leader's knowledge of these scenarios, though maybe he shouldn't have been given Jaunes family. Either way, he followed the blondes advice, the two of the sitting apart from the large female group and keeping themselves amused. Every now and again they would be engaged in conversation, which they would politely answer. Everything was going smoothly, and Ren was confident that they could get through this. But confidence makes one bold, boldness leads to action, and actions can lead to mistakes. And it was here that Ren made one such mistake.

"What are you guys talking about?"

The question was an innocent one, and no one seemed fazed by his inquiry. No one except Jaune. Immediately, the blonde's eyes widened in shock, staring at Ren and trying to motion 'no'. But it was too late.

"Oh, we're just talking about boys." Yang's answer sounded back. "Say, why don't you two come join us?"

"Oh, well that doesn't seem like something we have a part in talking about. We'll just keep doing our own thing over here."

"Nonsense Renny! Come over here and join us! We can even paint your nails!"

"No, I really don't think-"

Yang cut in before the ninja could finish his excuse. "Yea, come on over here. It's not like we'll be talking about you guys anyways. Hell, you two are practically girls with how much time you spend with us."

Ren was beginning to lose hope of getting out of this, when his fearless and intelligent leader stepped in.

"Sure, just let us finish up what we're doing over here, it'll only take a couple seconds." This time it was Ren's turn to be shocked by Jaune. Instead, as soon as all heads were turned away from the pair, Jaune started motioning at door violently with his head. The meaning not lost on Ren, who was quick to follow the knight, the two of them silently trying to slide over to the door, and the freedom it entailed.

They got close, so close. But right as Ren's hand was reaching for the doorknob, a questioning voice sounded across the room. "Renny, what are you doing? Are you two leaving the party?"

Blue eyes met magenta, the two boys sharing a glance before deciding on the only option they had left.

"Run."

* * *

The pair eventually stopped running when they reached the library. They had no idea if they had been followed, and weren't about to go and check. Instead, they chose the most hidden table they could and made themselves comfortable.

Once they had calmed down, Jaune started up the conversation. "Ren, you have to be more careful. I understand you're a rookie to these matters, but even the slightest slip up can spell doom. We were lucky to get out of that alive. I won't blame you, but watch yourself in the future."

Ren nodded at his leader's words. He knew the truth in them, what he had almost cost them. IT had been a close escape, and next time they might not get so fortunate. Yet there was something else bothering Ren, and from the look on his face, Jaune was probably feeling the same.

"Are we really just 'two of the girls?'" The blonde posed the question on both of their minds. Ren had never cared too much about his masculinity. He knew who he was, and he was happy with that. But something seemed different now. Maybe it was just the teenage atmosphere or Beacon. Maybe it was him growing up, or hormones. Something about being referred to as one of the girls irked him. But could he really deny it?

"We do hang out exclusively with an otherwise all female group." Ren pointed out.

"True." Jaune pondered. "And just the other week you let them braid your hair when they were bored."

Ren flinched at the memory. Sure, it hadn't done any harm at the time, but looking back…

"Maybe it's time we became a bit more manly." Jaune's words brought Ren out of his memories. "I mean, we're at a school for hunters. No one would question us for acting a bit more macho. We could just make it part of our training."

"How would we train 'manliness' though?"

"I don't know, weights?"

"We already work on strength, and it hasn't helped so far." Jaune closed his eyes, obviously hoping for a sudden epiphany to strike him. Ren too took the time to try and think of a way to reclaim their masculinity.

"Ren, it's no use." Jaunes words mirroring the black-clad boy's thoughts. "I think we need to call in the experts."

"You don't mean…"

"Yep, I don't see another choice." Teen grimaced as his leader pulled a scroll out. Even if he had wanted to, Ren would've had a hard time arguing against Jaune on this one. They needed results, and soon. They couldn't do this on their own.

"Make the call."

Slowly, Jaune punched in the number, giving Ren the chance to back out. A chance Ren didn't take. As the phone rang, Jaune set it on speaker and placed it on the table between them. They waited with bated breath, the tension thick in the air between them.

It rang again. And again. Then the sound of someone picking up, and a voice came through the scroll, clear as day.

"'Sup?"

* * *

 **There it is, the first chapter of my new project, meant to replace my one that just ended. This fic is planned to be a purely humorous one this time around, and will probably be about the same length as 'Where We Seek Comfort'.**

 **This is a shorter chapter, more of a prologue to set up the story really. Most chapters will be longer, probably between 2000-3000 words.**

 **As always, I am open to any feedback or criticism you want to give me, and I hope you will enjoy this story.**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Planets and Stars

Ren and Jaune sat anxiously, waiting on what the pair before them would decide. They had been more than happy to hear out the request, inviting the boys of team JNPR back to the half-empty dorm room they were staying in. Now they discussed among themselves, leaving Ren and Jaune to guess at their fate.

But they couldn't take it any longer. "So are you guys gonna help us?" Jaune blurted out, interrupting the silence that sat thick in the room, causing the boys huddled on the other side to turn and answer.

"Help you? Man, we were always gonna help you! Right now we're just discussing how!" The faunus exclaimed. "I mean, what kind of friends would we be if we didn't help out a bro in such a dire situation?"

"And right now," the blue haired boy cut in, " We're thinking that step one should be a change of outfit."

Jaune looked down at his beloved hoodie and jeans. "I don't see a problem with my clothes. I don't think they're making me seem less masculine at least."

"It's not what they do, it's what they _don't_ do." Sun corrected. "For example, while they don't take away from your manliness, they don't add to it either. If you want them to stop thinking about you as girls, you gotta dress in a way that makes it obvious."

"Take us for example," Neptune stepped in to take over from his partner. "When you look at Sun, what is the first thing you notice?"

"The abs." Jaune's answer was immediate.

" _Exactly._ And kudos for not saying tail. You see Sun and your eyes immediately see masculinity. That's one approach. Now, take my outfit; slim red jacket, goggles, and the shirt and tie underneath. Suave, smooth and cool. Not macho like Sun, but it makes you look _good."_

"Now back to you guys. Jaune, hoodie and jeans man, just doesn't stand out. I could scan a crowd and my eyes wouldn't even be able to tell you apart. Your outfits gotta make sure your masculinity is out there for people to see. And Ren, I get the whole Eastern look, it's your thing. But it needs more _edge_ to it, like Jaune's. It needs something to highlight that you're a true mans man."

The boys of team JNPR pondered Sun's words for a moment. It made sense, for sure. Appearances lead to first impressions, which can shape how someone thinks of you forever. So if said first impression where to give, well, the _impression_ of manliness, people would be more likely to attribute that to them in the future. There was only one thing left:

"What do you suggest?" Ren spoke for the first time.

"Neptune's the real fashion expert, at least out of the two of us. If Scarlet were here, he'd definitely have some great ideas, but Neptune certainly isn't new to this either." Sun replied.

"Scarlet?"

"Oh, he and Sage are the other members of team SSSN. They'll be arriving for the Vytal festival soon enough, but for now it's just the two of us. But that's not the point right now. We're discussing your new outfits. Over to you, Neptune."

"Ok, let's start with Ren. We should definitely keep the green, no debate there. Contrasts well with the pink. Speaking of which, you should consider making the strip of color in your hair bigger, make it stand out more so it can't get hidden. But anyways, outfit." Neptune began pacing around Ren, checking out different angles, occasionally pulling up something on his scroll, as if checking out some possibilities. "Ok, first I'd say either lose or shorten the sleeves, show off some of that arm muscle that should be hidden under there. Next… I'd say make the pants slightly darker. An off-white instead of the pure white you have right now; currently they stand out too much and take the attention away from where you want it. Hmm, do you have something underneath your current top? Is it a jacket or a shirt?"

"I have nothing underneath it, so I'd say a shirt."

"Alright, in that case, I'd say lose the collar, probably go for a deeper-cut neck. Otherwise, it should be good; should help your cause while maintaining the integrity of your outfit fine. If you think of any accessories that would help, feel free to add them on. I still think adding a bit more pink in your hair would go well, maybe tidy it up a bit as well. Instead of just the back tied up, get everything except that longer patch on the right of your face. But definitely keep it as a loose ponytail, works well." Neptune waited for the nod of confirmation from the Eastern boy. "I think that'll be good. Now, onto Jaune."

"You already said I had to change the hoodie, what else is there?" Jaune seemed agitated.

"Oh, tons more. The hoodie isn't even _close_ to the only problem." Ignoring Jaune's insulted look, the blue-haired boy continued. "Now, what are you wearing underneath the hoodie?"

"Um… just a normal t-shirt?"

"Alright, let's see." He waited for the knight to remove his sweater, revealing a baggy t-shirt also adorned with the Pumpkin Pete bunny. "Alright, that won't do at all."

"Why?! People don't even see my shirt!"

"Not with the current outfit, no. But that's gonna change. But first of all, I'd say change the t-shirt out for a muscle shirt, pure black and tight fitting. Shows off the body great, and it won't be out of place since it's underneath something else. Say Sun, do you think leather would work?"

"I mean, maybe? Would definitely help him stand out, but I'm not sure it would be the right kind of attention. Not to mention it's still got to be comfortable underneath his metal armor."

"True, hadn't thought of that. So it's got to be fairly thick still, which makes it harder to move away from the hoodie."

"So I get to keep my hoodie?" Jaune couldn't keep the hope out of his voice.

"Ha, no. Not that one at least; too loose, too plain. Maybe a button-up hoodie? Yea, would be fine with his armor, and he can undo some or all buttons when he doesn't have it on. And that raises another point Jaune, you can't keep your armor on at all times. No 'buts'. " He added when Jaune went to protest. "I'd say white sleeves and hood with a black body, black cuffs too, for contrast. In the same vein, get some black gloves, so they don't stick out."

"Aren't you worried about the black undershirt with a black-bodied hoodie?" Sun cut into Neptune's speech. "Would kinda ruin the contrast."

"Good point. The thing is, the undershirt can only really be black or white, otherwise it will look off, and the black fits much better. Hmm, I guess we could make the body of the hoodie a gray, light enough to see the difference in color. Still keep the black gloves, though. And for pants, since the sweater's going gray, we can go with black pants. Slim fit, I think. Actually… we could go with jeans still. Faded black jeans, still simple, but not mundane. And somehow, you still kept the hoodie and jeans look."

"Um… Thanks, I guess?" Jaune was mostly just relieved that Neptune had finally stopped his monologue.

"Don't worry, this should still do the trick. It's sleeker, stands out more, and it still keeps the same general idea of your old outfit. In fact, for both you and Ren, it should be noticeable, but not questionable change. A subtle difference, but it should be noticeable."

"Great, does that mean we're done now?"

"Done?" Sun chuckled "Nah dude, now we actually have to _buy_ your new clothes. C'mon, we still got most of the afternoon to head into Vale and find what you guys will need."

A groan escape both Ren and Jaune's lips

* * *

Jaune's feet ached, his shoulders drooped, and his legs were sore. But they had done it. Their shopping spree was finally done. They had found everything they had come for. Some of the items had been easy to find; such as the gloves and both boys pants. But some had been much harder. Ren's top was an especially difficult find, being a lot more specific and foreign that most of the other items.

But Vale was a big city, possibly the biggest in Remnant. And it had lots of stores to explore if you had the time.

"Well, I think that was a day well spent." Neptunes chipper attitude contrasted everyone else's exhausted mood. Even Sun could barely put one foot in front of the other after several long hours slogging through Vale. His partner, on the other hand, barely seemed to be affected.

"Neptune, buddy, only you could find a day of scouring through clothing stores fun. The rest of us need time to recuperate. How bout we all go grab a bite to eat, there's a fast-food place around the corner."

"Eh, I wouldn't say no to some food. You guys in, or you wanna head back to your team now?" The last part was directed to the boys of team JNPR, who lagged slightly behind.

"Yea, I'm happy with food, it's not like it'll take very long anyways. That fine with you, Ren?" The boy in question shrugged in agreement. "Great, I'll let Pyrrha and Nora know we'll be back soon after. Say," Jaune added as an afterthought, "What time did you tell them we would be back?"

Ren responded with a questioning look. "I thought you were the one who told them we were going out?"

"What?! But it's always you who does that! I'm useless, remember?"

"But I told you my scroll was dead; I forgot to charge it. So I couldn't contact them."

"Crap, I'll send them a message right away apolog-"

Even as Jaune started typing on his scroll, Sun cut him off, gently pushing his scroll down. "Guys, relax." He said to the panicked Jaune and still calm Ren. "I think this is actually another chance to prove your manliness. After all, what's manlier than independence?"

The boys still looked unconvinced, so Sun continued. "Look, at this point you've been out for most of the day, right? And I'm gonna guess your team hasn't messaged you since neither of you has a text asking where you are. So obviously they aren't worried, or mad. So what you gotta do is come get some food, maybe we can go check out the preparations for the Vytal festival, and then you return to your team like nothing happened. No apologies, no excuses, since you didn't do anything wrong. You don't need their permission; being whipped isn't very masculine after all."

"I mean, I guess there's no harm if they aren't worried about us." Jaune agreed timidly.

"Exactly! Now hurry up, I need food pronto!"

* * *

It was closing in on 9 o'clock when Jaune and Ren finally made their way back to team JNPR's room. After getting food, them, Sun, and Neptune had decided to head over to the docks.. There, they ran into the men whose boat Sun had stowed away on, who Sun insisted on pranking. The prank, in the end, had actually just been Neptune, Jaune and Ren being a distraction while Sun snuck onto their ship and stole as many bananas as he could physically carry, which both wasn't much of a prank. It had ended with all four of them hauling ass back to the airship, which had not been easy while weighed down by several clothing store bags and their new payload of yellow fruit. Ren also thought that it probably didn't help all that much to counteract any faunus stereotypes.

And so it was an exhausted pair that eventually trudged their way into the dorm, quickly putting their new purchases away and nearly collapsing. A quick discussion had happened between them, Sun and Neptune on whether they should return wearing the new outfits, but the idea had been quickly put down as being too obvious at showing what the purpose their trip to Vale had been.

As they had entered, Pyrrha and Nora had greeted them warmly. True to Sun's word, they hadn't been mad. Ren thought that maybe he should give the faunus more credit. While he might act the joker, he certainly wasn't an idiot. He _was_ a hunter-in-training after all, and most idiots don't last long in such a profession.

"If I may ask, where were you guys?" Pyrrha asked politely from across the room. While she might not always be the most trusting of her leader to avoid trouble, it seemed the fact Ren was around was enough to keep her calm.

"Oh, Ren and I spent the day down in Vale, doing… uh…stuff." Jaune's reply slowly died off awkwardly. With a sigh, the ninja decided a save was needed.

"We bought some supplies, got ourselves some food and checked out the docks." He stated factually.

"And you guys didn't invite us?" Nora asked her partner, and scarily enough he couldn't tell if her distress was an act or the real thing.

"Actually, we went down with Sun and Neptune in the end. You remember them right? You should have at least met them at the dance." Jaune explained.

"Yes, I remember them, don't worry," Pyrrha confirmed. "I was unaware that the four of you were friends, however."

"Oh ya, Sun and Neptune are total bros." Pyrrha's eyes seemed to narrow slightly at this unusual comment, but let it go. "We just decided to have a guy's day out, you know, get the _testosterone_ pumping."

Ren had to enact all his mental fortitude to stop himself from bashing his head against the wall. Instead, he decided to step in and save the knight any further embarrassment. "Actually, at the end we some, uh, cardio training," Yea, technically running from the law counted as cardio "So I think it would be best if Jaune and I got some rest, it was a long day for us in the end.

Pyrrha smiled sympathetically. "Of course. I believe Nora and I are still good for a bit longer, so we'll go to the library for a bit more studying." The spartan ignored the groans coming from the ginger girl. "Night, you two."

* * *

 **There it is, chapter 2 of Brocode: Beacon. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **Since I didn't mention this at the end of the last chapter, I plan on having two stories on the go, currently this one and another which should be released soon which focuses on Ren, Jaune, and Nora after season 3 if they did not go on a journey with Ruby. It will be a more serious, longer story, compared to the short humourous ones I hope to be able to continuously pump out. Once I get into a good rhythm, I hope to be able to get 2 chapters out each week, one for each story.**

 **For now, have some fun reading.**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Fondling of Ren's Muscles

Jaune and Ren walked into the cafeteria with a calm confidence around them. Or at least, as much as they could put on.

They had hung back behind their teammates under the pretense of letting them get changed and ready first. In reality, they had wanted the chance to try out their new outfits away from prying eyes. Now, they wandered over to the six girls as nonchalantly as they could. This was particularly difficult for Jaune, who felt exposed without the comforting weight of his armor.

Reaching the table that housed teams JNPR and RWBY, the pair of boys tried their best to avoid the several pairs of eyes that followed them into their seats.

"Hey, save us any food?" Jaune tried to break the silence that had fallen over the group.

"Yea, here you go!" Nora revealed two plates of eggs and bacon, apparently oblivious to any change that had occurred with her teammates. However, the casual atmosphere was not to last.

"Alright, spit it out. Why the change of clothes?" Yang demanded bluntly, never one to be indirect.

"What, these?" Jaune looked down at himself, pretending to act surprised at the different attire. "Oh, I've had this for a while, just never bothered to use them. I just decided to get some use out of them finally. Why? What'd you think of them?"

"Well, for once you actually seem like you tried to go for a look." Weiss scoffed. "At least it's better than before, that was just so _plain_."

"Well, I for one find it quite handsome." Pyrrha cut in to defend her partner.

"Thank you, Pyr." Jaune responded happily, ignoring the murmur of 'you would' that came from Yang.

"However, I too was unaware that you owned this outfit. Or Ren, but that's understandable."

"As Jaune said, we got these awhile ago. I believe none of you were present, and we had just never bothered to wear them." Ren finally joined in on the conversation. "To be fair, we do all wear the same wardrobe every day."

At this, all present seemed to look down at their own clothes, as if only coming to this realization that what Ren was true.

"But Jaune, you aren't wearing your armor!" This time it was Ruby that brought the boys back into the focus of everyone.

"Well, ya. It's not like we're in danger of being attacked in school, and we are allowed to get changed before any spars in class. It was more of an inconvenience than anything to wear it around everywhere." His explanation was enough to convince everyone, with the exception of Ren, who had seen the pain ti had caused the blonde knight to leave the comforting protection behind. "Anyways, we actually wanted your opinion on these anyways, since most of our time is spent with you. I got approval from Weiss and Pyr, what about you guys?" The last part was addressed to everyone except the heiress and spartan.

"Well…" Ruby was the first to offer input. "It's still just a hoodie and jeans, isn't it? It's pretty much the same, I don't see the big deal."

Yang gasped at her sister. "Ignore her, she knows not what she says!" She announced to the group in a mock theatric voice. Her antics only brought her a punch from her sister in response, which she took in stride. "Personally, I agree with Weiss, it actually has style. Colours match, shows off your surprisingly built body, but still looks similar to your old look." Jaune smiled internally as the brawler almost word for word rephrased Neptune's rationale for the new look. However, he paused when he noticed Yang's eyes narrow. "So who helped you?'

"What, am I not allowed to have a fashion sense? I did grow up with seven sisters, I was bound to pick up something."

Yang snorted, but let it go for now. "Anyways, in summary it's a huge improvement. Although, some might suggest that you took some inspiration from our other monochromatic dresser here." Her head bobbed towards the faunus currently nose-deep in her book.

"Pshh, like Jaune could pull off black and white the same way I could," Blake smirked before looking up. "However, I do have to admit it is a significant improvement."

"As well, I'm sure some of us are are appreciating the slim fit more than others," Yang added with a pointed glance to the knight's partner, who blushed and looked away. "And speaking of that, who knew Ren had such strong looking arms~"

Heads turned to now focus on the ninja, whose new outfit had actually gone mostly overlooked with Jaune's more noticeable changes.

"Ren! Where'd your sleeves go?!" Nora suddenly seemed to become aware of the conversation going on around her. "C'mon, we gotta go find them!"

The valkyrie stood and began pulling on her partner's arm, much to the amusement of all watching. Ren, however, simply put his hand on his partner's shoulder, gently pushing her back into her seat.

"Nora, it's ok. I'm wearing a shirt without sleeved today." He explained placatingly. "They didn't get lost."

"But… That means you changed your outfit without asking me?" Nora's mood seemed to do an immediate 180, from energetic and loud to delicate within a few seconds.

"Nora, it's fine." Ren sighed "I might as well be wearing the same outfit as before; look at me." Seeing that the ginger girl still wasn't entirely convinced, he played his trump card. "I promise to refer to you in the future if I plan on getting any new clothes."

And just like that, bubbly happy Nora was back. Still, much to Jaune and Ren's chagrin, the conversation had been steered away from their not-so-subtle attempts to see if their change of attire had provided the desired effect. Luckily, help was on its way.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" The blonde faunus suddenly arrived behind the group, blue-haired partner in tow.

"My boy Sun! How's it going?" Jaune twisted his body to face the newcomers and raised his hand. Immediately, the monkey accepted it and the two launched into an overly long and complicated handshake.

This was the second part of their plan, which they had decided on during the outing into Vale. After all, they couldn't rely solely on one simple outfit change to solve the problem completely. As such, it had been decided that Jaune and Ren should hang out more with the partners from Haven. That way, the boys would simply come to be associated with the masculinity that simply radiated out from Sun and Neptune. Since RWBY, JNPR and the current half of team SSSN already hung out most of the time, it wouldn't seem too weird, plus it didn't hurt that all four boys had quite enjoyed the time together in the city.

While everyone watched Jaune and Sun continue their over-the-top handshake with raised eyebrows, Neptune wandered over to Ren and greeted him with a less conspicuous fistbump.

"'Sup dude." He paused for a second while Sun and Jaune finished, then continued. "You look different. Did you get a haircut?"

"No actually, changed up my style a bit." The ninja motioned down to his body, keeping up the pretense that Neptune had no idea what was different.

"Of course, I see it now. Actually, looks pretty good. Definitely something I would wear if I thought I could pull it off." _That_ got everyone's attention. Neptunes fashion sense was well known and respected, even with his short time at Beacon. To hear him outright praising someone's attire was rare. It helped the blue-haired boy had been the one to pick it out in the first place, but they didn't need to know that. Ignoring the silence that had settled, Neptune continued. "I mean, what you had before wasn't bad. But this just has an edge that makes it better. Doesn't hurt that it shows off these handsome forearms, either." To prove his point, Neptune leaned over and playfully gave the ninja's arms a squeeze, much to the pleasure of a couple of the girls. "And Jaune too, I see. Much better than what you had before."

"Hey, thanks Nep. Glad you noticed, I'm fond of it myself."

"I mean, once it was pointed out it's hard not to notice an outfit change. They only happen, like, once every four volumes."

"Still, means a lot coming from you. I mean, look at you!" The blonde knight exclaimed.

"You flatter me too much. Especially since I might have some new fashion rivals right here."

"Alright alright." Sun cut into the conversation. "That's enough of that before you two start making out or something. I think your audience would enjoy that too much." He gestured to the females at the table, none of whom made to correct him. "Anyways, you guys got a free period now, yeah? You and Ren wanna come chill with the two of us for a bit?"

"Sounds great, that fine with you Ren?" Receiving a nod from the quiet boy, he made to stand. "Alright, we're good to go. Catch you guys later in class!" He added on as the four males walked away.

"That… was odd." Weiss was the first to speak after they left.

"Which part?" Ruby inquired of her partner.

"All of it."

"Weiss is right," Blake spoke up. "Sun didn't address me once during that whole time, I don't think that's ever happened before."

"Aww, is the kitty-kat missing her attention?" Yang cooed.

"No." Blake didn't bother trying to humor her. "Actually, it would have been nice if it wasn't so suspicious. For example, since when did they all get along so well?"

"I don't know, but this isn't the first time." Pyrrha joined in. "Last weekend Ren and Jaune spent the whole day in town with them. They didn't get home until quite late, either."

"Weird. But who knows? They're all great people, maybe they just finally got to know one another and really enjoyed it?"

"Even weirder is the fact that the dunce seemed to actually have an outfit that worked," Weiss added coldly. "I'm fairly sure Jaune wouldn't know fashion if it hit him upside the head."

"Psst, I think someones a little sour that Neptune seemed more interested in Jaune than her," Yang whispered more that loud enough for all to hear, including the heiress in question.

"Am not!"

"Or," Ruby interrupted, "Jaune just got tired of some of us always commenting on his old clothes, so he decided to do something about it." The younger girl sent a pointed stare her sister's way. "He probably just brought Ren along with him at the same time too."

"If you're looking for an apology, it's not coming."The brawler defended. "Especially if it caused that new top. Did you _see_ how tight it was around his chest? Pyrrha's training has certainly been paying off for him."

"Something still seems off about all this." Weiss got the conversation back on track. "If for nothing else than that ridiculous greeting Sun and Jaune had. I mean, did you see it!?" Everyone had to agree with her there, the blondes greeting had been a bit much. "Pyrrha, what do you think of all this?"

"I… don't know. Nothing by itself is too bad, but the fact it all happened all together... It's also unlike the pair of them to wander off without us like that, not once but twice now."

"You guys know, while all this talking _is_ interesting…" Yang caught everyone's attention again. "Would it not be easier to just ask them?"

* * *

While the girls of RWBY and JNPR talked about them, the quartet of boys settled back down in Sun and Neptune's dorm to discuss how the plan was going so far.

"So, how'd it go before we got there? Was it a positive reception?" Sun got down to business right away.

"It wasn't negative, but I'm not sure it really had the effect we had hoped for," Ren answered analytically. "Yang was the only one to comment on it in any way we had hoped for, which doesn't always mean anything given her nature."

"Still better than nothing," Sun countered. "At the very least, it get's everyone else to at least take notice of it."

"Besides that, what did they think of it in general?" Neptune was anxious to hear how his fashion sense had been received, even if he wasn't to get any credit for it.

"Overall, everyone seemed to agree it was an improvement over before, _especially_ in Jaune's case." Neptune let out the breathe he had been holding. "Everyone seemed more interested in the interactions between you two, I noticed."

"Yea, do you think it was too obvious?" Jaune joined in.

"Not at all, my bro. Trust me, that's how guys act around each other all the time." Sun comforted the knight.

"Even the fondling of Ren's muscles?"

" _Especially_ the fondling of Ren's muscles. Believe me, the more gay guy's act around each other, the closer they are. Unless, like, they actually swing that way. Then it's harder to say."

"Right… Anyways, I think it was a good start so far." Jaune eagerly moved away from that topic of conversation. "But I don't think it will be enough on its own to assert our masculinity. Any idea's on what to do next?"

"Don't worry, we've already come up with the next step," Neptune answered, trading a look with Sun. "Hope you guys are looking forward to Ms. Goodwitch's class today."

* * *

 **Here it is, another chapter of Brocode: Beacon. I'm getting this out later than I wanted, but don't worry, I have excuses. The first of which, I have been feverish the past few days, so nothing much was done in general. Secondly, I've actually been finding this story harder than expected to write. Don;t get me wrong, I really like this story and it will continue, but it means it's a bit more effort to get each chapter out.**

 **My final excuse comes with much better news, I should be releasing chapter 1 of my new story within the next couple days! As I have mentioned, this will be a longer, darker and more serious story than the other two, for a change. Because of this, I have actually taken the time to plan out a full plotline to follow (albeit a very bare one). So keep an eye out for that soon.**

 **Until then, happy reading!**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	4. Chapter 4

**A quick note before this chapter begins: a few people commented on the fact I said that guys act more gay the closer friends they are. First of all, I don't believe it is a universal rule like Sun says. Rather, in the context of the fic, Sun simply thinks like that. However, to those who said guys aren't like that at all, some really are. Several people at school have actually questioned my sexuality on how I act with my friends.**

 **Anyways, enough of that. Story time!**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Ladies Love it

Teams RWBY and JNPR made their way into the combat classroom, the sound of chatter telling them Ms. Goodwitch was yet to arrive. Jaune and Ren rejoined their team shortly before their History class earlier today. While some of the girls had seemingly given them strange glances, everything had generally gone on as normal.

Across the stadium-like classroom, Jaune could see Neptune and Sun giving them the signal that they were ready. It was subtle, but Jaune had good eyes, and he knew what to be looking for.

"Um… Why is Sun waving at us like a madman?" Ruby questioned, being one of the many people staring at the blonde faunus.

"Just ignore it," Blake sighed, shaking her head. "He's probably trying to catch my attention, knowing him."

Ruby shrugged, seemingly content with the answer. Even if she hadn't been, there was little the reaper could have done about it, as it was that moment Ms. Goodwitch chose to stride into the classroom. Immediately, the low hum of chatter came to a halt.

"I'm glad to see that everyone is present." She announced to the class, voice echoing in the large space. How she knew everyone was present approximately 3.4s after entering the classroom, no one knew. But no one doubted it either. "Next weekend, we will be heading out into the Emerald Forest. The local Grimm population has been on the rise, which threatens to become an issue to Vale. We are simply going to cull their numbers."

There was a brief murmur from the student body. Excursions into the Emerald Forest were common enough, although it was surprising that all the first years were being asked to attend. However, no one was particularly concerned, this wasn't really anything new.

"Now, do I have any volunteers for the first sparring match?" Most people were still pondering the teacher's previous words, so only two hands shot into the air. "Ah, Mr. Arc.I'm glad to see you've finally decided to participate in class more. And your opponent; Mr. Vasilias of Haven Academy. Please, both of you come down to the arena."

The blonde made to stand, only for something to catch his arm. Pyrrha looked up at him, concerned. "Jaune, are you ok? Are you ready for this?"

He laughed off her worries. "Don't worry Pyr, I'll be fine. You've trained me for this, remember?"

"I- Well, ok. Do your best, Jaune." He nodded and then continued to make his way down to the stage.

"It's very unlike Jaune to volunteer to spar," Blake noted flatly.

"And suspicious too," Yang added, her eyes narrowed.

"How so?" Ren inquired, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. It wouldn't do to have them catch onto their plan.

"This morning, the fact that Jaune volunteered to fight, that his opponent is _Neptune_. All seems a bit coincidental, doesn't it?"

"If you didn't notice, the only reason Jaune and Neptune are sparring is because only they volunteered to go first. Not to mention Jaune probably volunteered to he could see how his armor worked with his new outfit."

" _Re-en_ , you're no fun." Nora pouted from beside him. "Why can't you let us make up conspiracy theories?"

The boy in question simply shook his head and turned to watch the match that was about to begin.

Neptune and Jaune had both retrieved their weapons and were now facing each other as Ms. Goodwitch read through the rules yet again.

"Now, are both combatants ready? Begin"

Immediately, Jaune took out his weapon and charged, attempting to choose the distance. It was the right strategy, as his opponent took out his own weapon and began to fire off rounds towards the blonde.

Jaune managed to catch most of the bullets on the heater shield before him, but it slowed him down. Enough so, that when he finally got within melee range, Neptune was able to safely shift into trident form.

The blue haired boy backpedaled, poking and prodding at any opening he could see. Each one was either deflected off three Sheila or paired away. There was little force behind these jabs, but it was enough to keep Jaune at bay, the versatile trident easily outreaching the knight's sword.

It continued like this for a while; Neptune slowly whittling away at his opponent's aura slowly. Eventually, Jaune seemed to realize he needed to change it up, and soon.

And so, as Neptune poked his trident forward once more, Jaune ignored it, electing instead to swing a heavy overhand at his opponent. It was a good idea in theory; Neptune's strike was only meant to distract while Jaunes own had incredible force behind it.

However, mid-swing the trident shifted, the end pressing together and turning blue. It made contact with Jaune's chest, he was blown backward across the arena. He landed hard on his back, blue electricity still sparking across his armor.

There was a gasp from the crowd. Not only had Jaune been sent flying, a generous chunk of his aura had been cut as well.

Then something even more unexpected; as soon as Jaune recovered, be temporarily set his weapons down and quickly pulled his sweater off, armor with it. He managed to recover and regain his weapons just in time to block a better of bullets from Neptune.

"What was that about?" Rens concentration on the match was broken by Ruby's voice beside him.

"Jaune realized his armor was harmful in this matchup due to Neptune's electricity, so he discarded it." He explained, eyes roving over to the group with him. They were all still enthralled with the match, since now even more so.

"Yeah, but why take off his sweater as well?"

"It was the easiest way to get rid of his armor; as it is he barely had time. Had he tried undoing the straps and taking off just the armor, he would've been hit for sure."

So instead, Jaune had removed both, leaving his chest only covered with his black muscle shirt. The very tight, very thin, muscle shirt. This was the cause of some of the girl's newfound interest in the match, namely Pyrrha and Yang.

However, back in the match, Jaune still need a new strategy. Neptune was now on the attack, making it much riskier to try and trade blows. Jaunes defense was good, but it still didn't let him retaliate, Neptunes range simply being too much.

But Jaune was persistent if nothing else. As Neptune swung again, he quickly shifted his shield and put it away. At the same time, he caught the trident on his sword, not detecting it but rather choosing to keep it in place. Then, using his newly freed left hand, he grasped the shaft in front of him.

Not wanting to let the opportunity pass, Jaune immediately pulled on the trident, causing its owner to stumble forward, into range on the oncoming sword swing.

But Neptune was fast. He reacted by bringing the haft of his weapon up with his offhand, blocking Jaunes strike.

Much to his surprise, Jaune grinned.

Fingers extended, the knight switching his grip from just his sword to now hold both it and the trident. Said weapon was now held diagonally between them, all four hands grasping it, both boys pressing against each other.

The battle, which had started as an elegant exchange of attacks, parries, and blocks and now turned into a competition of strength. And Jaune was winning.

The blonde was slightly shorter than his opponent, but slightly bulkier too. Not to mention Neptune hadn't had the advantage of working with slave-driver Pyrrha.

Step by step, Jaune was pushing forward, Neptune getting closer and closer to the edge of the area, and ring-out. He had to do something.

So, as Jaune pushed, Neptune gave way. He stepped to his left, right hand releasing the weapon. He kept one foot extended out, planning to trip the blonde as he stumbled. It _almost_ worked.

As expected, Jaune suddenly lurched forward as the resistance to his shoving disappeared. But instead of tripping over his opponent, he barged into his leg, placing Neptune off balance. Then, utilizing the momentum he had, he spun on the spot, his right hand, and the pommel of Crocea Mors slamming into the side of Neptune's head.

Dazed, the blue haired boy tried to recover, only to be thrown to the ground. The tenuous grip he still had on his weapon was broken, and he felt a weight land on his chest. Jaune had him effectively pinned down, weaponless. The match was over.

"I forfeit."

"Very well," Ms. Goodwitch nodded in understanding. "The winner of the match is Jaune Arc."

Polite cheering sounded from around the class, except where teams RWBY and JNPR sat. There, the sound was deafening. A look at the contestants' Aura showed why. While over half of Jaunes bar was empty, Neptunes was almost entirely full. The only hit the knight had landed was the one at the end.

"A good fight, both of you." Ms. Goodwitch addressed the fighters. "Mr. Vasilias, you did well to use your range and speed to guide most of the fight. However, when your opponent adapted, you did not. As well, when you got caught in an unideal position, you did not seem to have a way out. I suggest working on what you will do if a fight does _not_ go your way."

Neptune nodded his acceptance to the woman in front of him, showing he understood.

"And Mr. Arc, you did well to realize a tactical advantage of your opponent and remove it. You also did well adapting new strategies to beat an opponent mid battle. The only suggestion I can make is to come into battle ready with ways to close the range, given it is your largest weakness. Overall, this had probably been your best spar all year."

Jaune thanked Ms. Goodwitch as the cheers from his friends became thunderous. When he made it back to them, Jaune was received with plenty of congratulations, mainly by Ruby and Pyrrha. Still, the others showed their approval, and he shared a wink with Ren when none of them could see.

The rest of the class passed as usual. No one else from RWBY and JNPR fought in any of the other spars, and none of the other spars were as exciting as the first. It wasn't until class was almost over that anything caught their attention again.

"Now," Ms. Goodwitch's voice rang out. "Do we have any volunteers for our last match?" A couple hands were raised tentatively, but one seemed more energetic than most.

"Alright, the combatants will be Mr. Wukong, and-"

"Actually, can I fight Ren?" The faunus interrupted before she could choose an opponent. If she was caught off guard, the teachers hid it well.

"If Mr. Ren accepts, he may be your opponent."

Eyes now turned to the quiet boy, who simply sighed and stood up to make his way down to the stage. With a cheer, Sun did the same.

"Anyone know what that was about?" Nora asked after he left. Jaune let out a small chuckle.

"Ren kept beating him in a fighting game this morning, so Sun said he'd get him back later. I guess he meant this."

The group around him also laughed at this. It was very typical Sun; his pride was too much to let it go. Of course, it was all in good fun. Everything was with him.

"Ready? Begin." Eyes turned back to the arena add Ms. Goodwitch signaled the start of the fight.

It began slower than Neptune and Jaunes, neither fighter having a significant range advantage to spur the beginning of the match. Instead, they slowly circled around, slowly closing the distance between them. Neither wanting to waste the ammunition at this range, where it would be easy to avoid.

Eventually, one of them had to make the first move. Ren knew this, Sun knew this. But Ren knew it first.

The ninja fired off several rounds while doing forward, forcing Sun to spin his staff and block them all. This allowed Ren to immediately bypass the staff's extra range and get into his preferred proximity.

He slashed out with the blades of his weapons, some blows landing but most being blocked out deflected by the defensively held quarterstaff. Suddenly, Suns foot lashed out, catching him in the stomach and pushing him back. It gave the faunus enough time to switch weapon modes, the staff turning into a pair of nunchaku.

A pair of nunchaku which began firing several shotgun shells in rapid succession.

Ren began flipping around, narrowly avoid the spray of bullets that chased him down. He jumped into the air, twirling to return fire on his opponent.

It bought him enough time to take stock of the battlefield. Looking around, the pair still stood more or less in the middle of the arena, so there was little risk of ring out currently. Sun himself was a few yards away. He had to get him back into melee, the shotgun shells had not damage potential than his own pistols. Ren flipped back again as another shotgun shot was fired. Thinking time was up.

Ren was agile enough to avoid all the shots, as long as he focused on dodging. But that wouldn't be enough to win the match. He needed to hit back.

Slowly, Ren made his way closer, disguising it within his acrobatics. Either Sun didn't notice or didn't care, the faunus simply firing away the whole time. _The amount of ammo he has is ridiculous_ , Ren thought to himself. _Four shotguns have to be compensating for something._

However, right before Ren got close enough to counterattack, Sun seemed to notice his plan. His nunchaku were switched back into a bo staff, which was now being swung at Rens legs. Thinking quickly, the ninja jumped up and off of the staff, helping to propel him up and over the monkey. As he did so, he lashed out with his blades, swinging at the back of his opponent. The hit landed well, as the screen above showed a large chunk his Aura cut out. However, his Aura wasn't the only thing that got cut.

With a loud tear, Suns shirt split in half down his back. The faunus seemed unbothered, choosing to simply shrug off the tattered remains.

The crowd, however, had a much bigger reaction. A cheer went up from about half the spectator s (namely, the female half), and there was even a catcall or two mixed in.

Ren rolled his eyes. There was very little showing now that wasn't showing before, seriously. His opponent had the opposite reaction, Sun taking advantage of Rens momentary pause to quickly flex and show off to the anyway excited crowd.

Once the boys felt it had gone on long enough, they turned back to each other, posed to fight, and half-naked in one's case. This time, there was no delaying, both charging at each other.

They met halfway, Rens blades striking against the bo staff. He took full advantage of the standstill, firing his pistols point-blank into the chest before him, causing Sun's Aura to dip significantly. The faunus quickly reacted, breaking apart his weapon and stepping back, leaving the black-haired boy to stumble forward. Not passing up this chance, the nunchaku quickly flew into action, battering several times against the back of Ren before the boy recovered enough to roll away.

Sun wasn't about to let up, however. He followed swiftly, alternating between spinning his weapon and firing shotgun shells. Slowly, the ninja gave ground, avoiding most blows but taking significant Aura damage.

And still, Sun wouldn't relent. This was a good position for him; there was little Ren could do to break out of the cycle without taking a ton of damage, damage he couldn't afford to take.

It seemed to be a lose-lose situation for Ren, and both knew it. Pushed near the edge of the stage, Ren had no choice but to try one final tactic. As a nunchaku seeing forward, the ninja moved his blade forward to meet it, allowing the chain to wrap around the blade a few times. Now stuck together, Ren tried to pull the weapon away, hoping to disarm his opponent.

Unluckily, Sun was stronger. He pointed the smaller boy towards him, before raising his leg into his stomach, delivering a powerful blow. At the same time, be released his nunchaku, allowing the full momentum of the kick to carry Ren backward and out of the arena.

"The winner is Mr. Wukong, by ring out." The applause for the faunus was loud, pierced by whistles and cheers. The boy in question made a show of bowing, before turning to his friend and giving him a hand up.

"Gentlemen, that was a good fight. However, Mr. Wukong," the woman's voice grew serious "I have to ask why you felt the need to pause and show off partway through the match? It was a foolish move you should've been punished for."

If he was intimated by the teacher, Sun hid it well. "I knew it'd be fine Ms. G, Rens a bro." He replied casually. "And for why? The ladies loved it!" He gestured around him to accentuate his point, receiving a cheer from the crowd.

Ms. Goodwitch sighed and turned towards the usually quiet boy. "Fine then, Mr. Ren, why did you pause your attack to allow Mr. Wukong to 'show off for the ladies'?"

Ren shrugged. "The ladies loved it."

"You know what? Never mind. Class dismissed." Ms. Goodwitch walked away, bringing her fingers up to rub her temples as she did so.

* * *

 **Here we go, finally a new chapter! I know it's been a while, but in my defense, I've been on vacation recently, meaning less work got done, and the work I did so had to be uploaded when I got back (i.e. today).**

 **So to make it up to you, I'm uploading this longer chapter** _ **and**_ **the 2nd chapter of my other fic (Roads Seldom Travelled) at the same time. If you haven't checked it out, I hope you will, at least the first chapter to see if it's your cup of tea.**

 **In the meantime, happy reading, and in the future chapters should be out quicker.**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Naming is Hard

Their last class of the day now over, teams RWBY and JNPR made their way out of Ms. Goodwitch's classroom, once Ren had cleaned himself up. It was a good way to start the weekend, leaving on the high note of Ren and Sun's fight.

"Still, a bit of a shame I didn't get the chance to spar today." Yang bounced around, boxing the air in front of her partner. Blake didn't even bother to look up from her book. "Nothing quite like beating down the chumps in that class."

"And who exactly counts as the 'chumps' in that class?" Weiss inquired, a hint of danger in her voice.

"Everyone," Yang shrugged unapologetically. "Including you."

"Hey!"

"Anyways," Ruby cut into the conversation in an attempt to avoid a scene. "At least Ren and Jaune did well in their fights today, right?"

"Thanks, Ruby, that means a lot." Jaune shot the diminutive girl a smile. " And Ren, I hope you don't feel down. Sun's a tough opponent; he's fast and hits hard. You lasted longer than most people would."

"But you didn't get shirtless, Renny!" Nora interrupted, her voice taking on an accusing tone.

"Yea, that part was certainly… odd, to say the least." Blake added.

"I don't know Blakey, you certainly seemed more interested in the fight after that. I don't think you turned a single page in your book once the shirt came off."

"Was not!" The faunus responded to her partner's teasing, slightly too fast to be considered normal.

"That raises a good point though; how did Suns shirt rip?"

Everyone shot Pyrrha a questioning look. "Um… Because Ren's blade cut all the way down the back?"

"No Jaune, think about it. In the spars, or when fighting Grimm, when's the last time someone's clothes got damaged at all, much less cut in two."

"Actually that true," Everyone's eyes now shifted over to the Schnee heiress. "I remember learning about this. A person's aura doesn't only protect them, as most people think, but also extends to protect what they have on their person. For example, that's why a Hunter's weapon is less likely to break and requires less maintenance. The same effect would occur on your clothes."

"Well, looks like the gigs up boys." Yang walked up between Jaune and Ren, slinging an arm around each one's shoulder. In response, all she got in response was perplexed looks. "Seriously though, if you guys ever stop being Hunters, I think a career in acting would do you well."

"Yang? What are you on about?" The question came not from either of the men in question, but instead from Yang's own sister.

"Well, think about it. First of all, these two head off suspiciously with Sun and Neptune in the morning, acting all strange. Ok, weird, but understandable." Everyone nodded to show they were following, save Ren and Jaune, who were shooting each other nervous glances from behind the group.

"Next, we have combat class, where the four of them just happen to all get paired up to spar with each other. Maybe coincidence, maybe not." At this point, Yang had everyone's attention to an extent, including her own anti-social partner's.

"And then during the fights. We have Sun's shirt rip in half and fall to the ground, while Ren just stood there and let it happen. Almost as if it was expected. And of course, let's not forget the fact that out of nowhere, Jaune managed to pull off a pretty much perfect fight against Neptune. A little suspect if you ask me."

"Are you saying it was all an act?"

"That's exactly-" Yang was cut off as everyone turned, realizing Jaune had stopped walking with them. "Jaune, you okay?"

"You… don't think I can win a fight by myself?" His voice was quiet, but nobody missed what he said.

"What? Oh, no that's not what I-"

Once again Yang was cut off as the knight raised his hand to silence her. "No, save it. I heard what you said perfectly fine already. I just thought you might be happy I managed to win, that's all." And with that, Jaune turned on his heels and briskly walked away.

"No, wait!" Pyrrha made to follow her leader and partner, only to have her wrist caught be Ren.

"I'll go after him. You should try to help Yang." Pyrrha hesitated, but gave in, not being one to argue. Besides, given the fact Yang still stood there, mouth agape, she probably needed it.

So as Ren disappeared down the corridor after his friend, it left the six girls alone in the hallway.

"He… he doesn't actually think that's what I meant, does he? Did it really sound like that?" Despite the desperation in Yang's voice, no one was willing to meet her eyes and answer the question. "Gods, he must think I'm horrible."

"No, Yang!" Ruby suddenly flew into her sister's arms, wrapping around her midriff. "Jaunes a good guy, he wouldn't think that! He's so nice, and you're his friend."

"Don't worry Yang," Pyrrha stepped towards the blonde, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He'll forgive you before you know it. You must have just caught him at the wrong time, I'm sure Jaune usually wouldn't react like that."

"It was a rather odd reaction from the dunce," Weiss added for effect.

"Still, I shouldn't have said what I did." Despite her words, Yang did look significantly better. "I'll apologize later, and try to make it up to him."

"Although, this only adds to the fact that Jaune has been acting peculiar recently." Blake's words broke through the gloom, bringing the conversation back to where it had been before.

No one there would deny that Jaunes recent actions had been… out of character for the knight, and in even stranger ways. On one hand, he seemed to have become more confident in himself, surer in his actions. But on the other, he almost seemed skittish around their group, like something big could explode at any moment.

"He's also been spending much more time with Renny recently," Nora added, a hint of bitterness creeping into her voice. "I wasn't aware they were partners."

"Is it possible Jaunes going through some personal problems right now?" '

As his partner, the group looked to Pyrrha for an answer.

"Not anything he's told me about. However, in the past, he's usually tried to sort things out himself."

"That would explain his unusual attitude, but not why he's taken to spending most of his time with Ren. Or why he's gotten so close to Sun and Neptune." Weiss added helpfully.

Suddenly, Nora gasped, all heads turning towards the ginger girl. "I got it!"

It took another few seconds before anything else was said. "Got… what exactly, Nora?"

"Well, Jaunes been acting all different, right? And suddenly he's started hanging out with a bunch of guys, and avoiding us! And this was caused by some personal problem of his!"

"Yes…"

"Well, obviously he must have just gone through a really bad breakup!"

"..."

"Nora, he literally only hangs out with us. Like, I'm not sure if he even knows anyone at Beacon besides us and CRDL."

"Blake's right. Unless someone here wants to admit to secretly dating and then breaking up with Jaune, I don't think that's it." Once the words left Weiss' mouth, everyone paused for a second to look at Pyrrha once again.

"What? I have not been secret dating Jaune!" Everyone let out a quick chuckle at the redhead's blush. Sometimes it was too easy.

"Anyways, it totally makes sense!" Nora brought the girls back to the matter at hand. "It would explain why he's spending his time with Ren, and why he's acting oddly. He's probably trying to be more confident to avoid the pain, but is hurt and nervous otherwise. Besides, do any of you have a better idea?" As much as they hated to admit it, none of the girls could come up with a solution that described their friends issues as neatly as Nora's theory.

Taking the silence as an answer, the valkyrie continued, "Besides, how much do we actually know of Jaune's past before Beacon? I mean, what was the name of his town? His parents? What were his hobbies?"

"I think he might have mentioned his mom once or twice…"

"He plays the guitar fairly well…"

"He faked his way into Beacon, that counts as his past!"

With the exception of Ruby, who apparently looked very proud of her deduction, the group shuffled awkwardly, realizing just how little they knew about the blonde's history.

"Exactly. It seems that he's hiding his past from us, keeping it separate from the present. Maybe it's because he doesn't want his old life to interfere with his old life, like Ren and I, or maybe it's because he doesn't want his new life to interfere with anything from his past."

Nora's argument was surprisingly strong. For none of them to really know anything about the knights past, he must have been trying to hide something. For all they knew, it could have been an old girlfriend. It could also explain how Jaune was missing Pyrrha's pretty obvious interest in him. The group was quiet, pondering the words.

Or most of them were.

"Hey Nora, what was that bit about your and Ren's past?"

"I can picture it now," The ginger girl began, blatantly ignoring Ruby's question. "Childhood friends from a small time, realizing their feelings for each other. Only to be separated by fate as Jaune goes away to become a Hero. The sweethearts try to keep the romance going long-distance, taking comfort in each other's words during the hardest times. However, the distance eventually takes its toll. Left feeling alone and cold, the woman finds help in the arms of another, closer man. Eventually, they tell Jaune, breaking his heart and leaving him alone, far from home."

As one, the girls sighed with the end of Nora's story. They could practically picture it in their minds, the tragic story of a boy who lost his soulmate.

"Poor Jaune, I never knew. I never knew…" Weiss looked like she was close to tears. Some of the others also seemed to be blinking back waterworks.

"We have to help him through this, support him however we can."

"I'll try talking to him tomorrow," Yang suggested. "I still need to apologize for today. I'll see if I can get him to open up about what happens. If he feels comfortable telling us about it, it'll make it easier to help him."

Everyone nodded in agreement, all wanting to help their friend however they could.

* * *

Jaune turned one more corner before finally stopping, placing his hands on his knees to quickly regain his composure. A few seconds later, Ren appeared in the hallway as well, causing the blonde to jump.

"Relax, it's just me. Everyone else stayed behind."

"Thank god," Jaune calmed down again. "I thought I saw Pyrrha about to follow me, so I just kept going for a while longer than usual."

"She wanted to, but I convinced her to talk to Yang instead."

Jaune nodded. "On that note, that really was too close for comfort. I thought this was going pretty well, but apparently, we were being a bit too obvious. Still, did it work? Did I distract them?"

"I think so, they all seemed pretty stunned after that show. That was some pretty fast thinking, by the way, good job. Maybe Yang's right, you could become an actor." They shared a quick laugh before Ren continued. "Anyways, it might be best to not head back to the room just yet, in case we just raise their suspicion again. Why don't we go find Sun and Neptune, we should probably let them know about this new turn of events anyways."

"Yeah, sounds good. Want to send them a message? Probably better you do it than me, I'm still angry after all." A hint of a smile played on Jaune's lips.

"Sure, I'll tell them we expect to be back after dinner, to give you 'some time to cool down.' In the meantime, send Neptune a message that we're heading over. After all, we also need to plan out the next step of this plan. Aside from the little hiccup today, I really do think it's working."

The two boys started walking towards the dorm wing. "You think? I wasn't entirely sure, but it seems that Sun and Nep really do know their stuff. To more success in the future."

"To more success in the future."

* * *

 **What is this? Drama, bad decisions, jumping to conclusions? I'm starting to realize I'm just writing a bad sitcom!**

 **Joking aside, here's another chapter of Brocode: Beacon for ya, I hope you enjoy it. In general, I've been receiving quite positive feedback on this story, I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

 **Until next time, read on**

 **-Dunkcoke-**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Who Knew Jaune Was Normal?

As everyone sat together to eat, Jaune could only say that the mood seemed… different.

It didn't seem to be anything to cause him to worry. Everyone was still joking around, bantering between themselves while they ate. There wasn't some feeling of anger or sadness lingering in the air. No, Jaune couldn't identify it that easily. It was just _off_.

Idly, he wondered if it had something to do with the situation that happened yesterday. But Pyrrha had assured him that everything was fine and that Yang wasn't too upset. For his part, Jaune said he had just been a bit tired after the fight and snapped when he shouldn't have, and that he felt bad for it. It seemed to be in the past now, or he hoped anyways.

He and Ren had returned to the dorms fairly late last night in the end, actually. Similar to themselves, Sun and Neptune had been alarmed to realize that some of the girls might be onto their plans. Jaune himself had suggested they stop it here; there had definitely been an improvement in how they were viewed, and keeping it going any longer only risked discovery, and with it the loss of all their progress.

Sun and Neptune, on the other hand, had been insistent. The fact that the plan was working meant they should _continue,_ not to quit while ahead. No, they needed to keep going, but come up with a new approach, something more subtle. They had sat around and planned for the better part of an hour, each suggestion that came up eventually being discarded as too obvious, too odd, or not effective. In the end, Ren had suggested simply sitting around for a few days, doing nothing. It would allow suspicion to pass, let them see exactly how well their plans had worked up until now, and get intel on how to approach future attempts. They would even try to have Sun and Neptune hang out with RWBY and JNPR during this time, so that they could see first-hand the girls actions around their bros.

That brought them to here, the ten students sitting around in the cafeteria. To try and keep the 'plan' of not doing anything hidden, Sun and Neptune were choosing to socialize with Blake and Weiss, respectively. Or try, in Sun's case at least. The cat faunus didn't give the slightest indication that she was listening to the blonde beside her as he regaled her with tales from Haven.

Once everyone had finished their meal, Weiss suggested they head over to the library to study. There were a few groans at the idea, but everyone agreed to go along. After all, there was plenty to do in the library that wasn't educational, for if you were normal. Of course, the large group got their fair share of annoyed glances upon entering the library, they weren't exactly quiet, but they moved away into a largely uninhabited back corner so as to disturb as few people possible. Immediately, Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha actually began to study, with Neptune electing to stay with them, despite the fact it seemed he would sooner fight Ms. Goodwitch than actually pull out a textbook. Ruby, Sun, and Nora instead decided to play a friendly game of cards, which actually meant that Ruby, Sun, Nora and _Ren_ were going to play a game of cards. Jaune began to make his way towards the latter group when his partner called out to him.

"Jaune, have you finished the assignment for Professor Port yet? The one on Grimm species in Mantle."

The blonde in question groaned. No, he hadn't done it yet, and Pyrrha very well knew that. Her phrasing it as a question was just to give him the illusion of an option. "No, I haven't finished it yet. I'll go do it now."

"Oh, perfect!" Yang suddenly said from his side, catching him by surprise. "I haven't had the chance to do it yet either. Why don't we go work on it together? I've been meaning to talk to you about yesterday anyways." The brawler began to head towards an empty table slightly apart from the group, motioning for him to follow.

Jaune felt a shot of panic course through him at her words, but quickly composed himself. Yang probably just wanted to apologize for her words yesterday, as Pyrrha had told him last night. Even so, he quickly glanced over to Neptune for advice, only to receive a shrug in return.

Oh well, worst case scenario he just blames Sun for everything.

The pair of blondes settled down at their table, Jaune pulling out his limited notes on the subject from Port's class. Yang, for her part, had found a book which would be infinitely more useful to their work. The worked lightly on the assignment for a bit first, taking turns searching through the library book for information and copying it down.

"So… about yesterday," Yang was the first to breach the subject. She continued once Jaune motioned for her to. "What I said, I really shouldn't have. We all know that you've been working really hard to improve yourself. It isn't a matter I should joke about."

"Yang, it's ok, I forgive you. I shouldn't have reacted like that anyways. You just… caught me at a bad time is all."

"Is everything okay? Anything we can help with?" Yang asked, almost too eagerly.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm just going through something right now, nothing you need to concern yourself about. Ren's already helping me." Put on the spot, Jaune decided that a half-truth would be easier to go along with than making up a whole big lie. This way, he could tell them more or less the truth, and if they asked too much just say he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

However, he couldn't miss the way Yang's eyes flashed in responses to his words; flashed with something he couldn't quite understand. Was it… sadness? That didn't make sense.

Either way, Jaune shook it off as Yang continued. "Well, as you know, we're always here to help you if you need it, just remember that. But anyways, yesterday when I was thinking about how little I knew about you, Jaune. WE should get to know each other some more. What were you like before Beacon?"

The knight was caught off guard by this sudden switch in topic but went along with it. After all, there was no harm in discussing his past. "Well, I grew up in a town outside of Vale, called Redcliff. It's one of the largest towns, it being pretty close to Vale and against the coast giving it pretty good protection. It even had it's own combat school, Skyhold, though of course people came from all over to train there."

"Is that where you went?"

"What, Skyhold? No, I didn't actually go to a combat school, remember? I just went to the local school, it was named after the town."

"I see. How was it going to a normal school? Ruby and I never really got the chance to go to one; we were kinda always raised knowing we'd be Huntresses, so we went to combat schools from the start."

"Well, I guess it was… normal. Nothing much really happened, outside of your normal teenage drama."

"Ohh, drama, I love it! Any of it ever focused on you? Any _interesting_ stories of bad boy Jaune of Redcliff?"

"Me? No-" Jaune cut off, peering over Yang's shoulder. Apparently had been listening in, and was now motioning frantically at Jaune, nodding his head vigorously. It didn't take a genius to understand it. "What I mean is nothing I should tell you about. A man's allowed to have his past secrets, no? I can't tell you all the juicy stuff right away."

Yang leaned back and let out a short laugh. "Alright Vomit-boy, but I'll get you to tell me eventually, count on it. So how were the classes you took? I can't imagine you had stuff like Grimm studies."

"No, not at all. We had stuff like history, language, _maths._ " A shudder went down Jaune's spine. That was something he definitely didn't miss. "We did study about dust, though. And we had gym class, that was the closest we had to any sort of physical classes like here. Surprisingly, I was one of the best in gym."

"Pssh, you? How?" Yang questioned, not believing it for a second. "When we got here you could barely do a push-up!"

"Hey, that's not true! Besides, it was because all the strongest, fastest and fittest kids would all go to combat schools, so it wasn't so much I was good, instead, I was the _least bad_. Probably one of the reasons I thought I would be fine to sneak into Beacon; I was physically better than most people at the normal schools."

"And what about the people? Was anyone back in your hometown as awesome as me?"

"As you? Yeah. But not as cool as everyone else here. " Jaune ignored the tongue Yang stuck out at him. "I mean, I got along with everyone fine, I had my friends. They were just… all sorta like me when I first arrived."

"Boring, awkward and naive?"

"No! Okay, well maybe. But I was just gonna say plain."

"Any girlfriends I should know about, ladykiller?" Yang looked at him suggestively. This time, Jaune didn't even need Neptune's warnings to know what the wrong thing to say was.

"Please Yang, didn't I ask you to allow a man his secrets?" The knight bluffed. "I'm not sitting here asking you all about your love life."

"Fine then, you're no fun anyways." Yang pouted, deciding to change the subject. "Still, must've been fun going to a normal school. You can just relax, have fun, not have to worry about Nora breaking your legs if you tick her off."

"Ha, yeah, compared to here it was absolutely tame." Jaune leaned back in his seat. "But I didn't know that then. We just worried more about trivial stuff; tests, gossip, there was always talk about what people would do after school. I never really joined in that, of course. No one would take me seriously if I said I wanted to be a Hunter."

"If you had the choice, would you go back?"

"No," Jaune's answer was short and immediate. "Not for the world."

"There's nothing you miss about your old life?" Yang pushed on. "Nothing that you would want to have back?"

 _Of course, there's plenty of stuff I would want back_ , Jaune thought to himself. His mind immediately went to his family, left behind with only a note on the kitchen table. Hardly a good trade for their brother and the family sword. His mother and father, who always wanted the best for him. His older sisters, who looked after him, and his younger who looked up to him. And worst of all, his own twin, left behind.

"Nothing that's worth giving up my goal to become a hero. But do you mind if we change the subject? I'd prefer not to think of her- I mean think of it."

Yang seemed to realize she had hit a sore subject, as another look of sadness entered her eyes. This time, Jaune was able to identify it no problem. The mood now slightly duller, the pair of blondes turned their focus back to the assignment that still needed to be done.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Nora's onto the right idea with this."

Team RWBY were sat once again in their dorm, sprawled across the room as Yang told them all about what she had come across earlier that day. Once the group had been free of Nora's powerful storytelling from yesterday, some doubt had begun to set in amongst the group. Most of it had been brought up by Weiss, who pointed out the fact that Jaune had been head-over-heels for her at the start of the year.

Still, no one could think of a better explanation, so they had decided to stick with their plan of having Yang scout for information, which brought them here.

"When I asked him if there was anything he missed from his old life, he got all misty eyed, then slipped up and said he didn't want to talk about her!"

"There could be plenty of girls that would cause him to miss his old life, Yang." Weiss once again brought some reason into the group. "He ran away from his family, it could easily be his mother, any of his _seven_ sisters! Did he actually say he ever had a girlfriend?"

'No, but that's the other thing I wanted to bring up! Every Time I started hinting at that, and I once just blatantly asked him, he didn't answer. He just laughed it away and said he 'needed his secrets.'"

"So? That could easily mean he hasn't and is too embarrassed to admit it to people. Honestly, with how he was around girls when we met him, I'd be much more surprised if he _did_ have a girlfriend."

"I'll admit that's possible, but the way he said it definitely hinted at having a girlfriend. Besides, I have one more way we can try to figure this out."

That got the girls attention. Unconsciously, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss found themselves leaning closer to their blonde teammate.

"When I asked him if he was doing okay, Jaune told me, and I quote, 'I'm just going through something right now,' and 'Ren's already helping me.' Both those line up perfectly with Nora's theory, for one. _But,_ it also means we can have one of us try to talk to Ren, see if we'll be able to get any more information from him instead."

"Okay, but who should that be?" Blake questioned innocently, only for everyone to begin to stare at her. "What? It's an honest question."

"Oh Blakey, you're so sweet to volunteer to do that!" Yang pulled her partner into a tight hug, ignoring the howls of protest. "After all, the two of you are so similar; you're both quiet… uh… you're both... _Hey guys, a little help here?"_

"I think what Yang's trying to say here, is that Ren is more likely to tell you than any of us." Weiss came to the blonde's aid. "Ruby while probably just scare him off with her enthusiasm, Yang isn't really the most subtle, and I'm… okay, well, let's just say you're better suited for this than me."

Blake huffed but calmed down in Yang's arms. "Fine, I'll do it. I just need a chance to talk to Ren, without Jaune interfering for a while."

"Well, here's your chance Blake!" Ruby announced, looking out the window of their door. "Jaune just walked off with Neptune, but Ren stayed behind!"

Blake cursed her big mouth.

* * *

 **Here we go boys and girls, another update for you!**

 **This chapter isn't as focused on humor but is simply doing some set-up instead. Don't blame me, blame the story. Which I just happen to be writing.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy! See you around later!**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! I realize it's been a little while since the last update. I'm aware, and I'm sorry. I'll explain why in my note at the bottom, but if you don't want to read that just know I've been busier recently and updates will be slower for the next little while.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Very Different Conversations

Ren perked up from his spot at the desk as he heard his name mentioned form the doorway. Oddly enough, it appeared as if Blake was asking for him, as Pyrrha motioned at him from the doorway where she was speaking to the faunus.

Ren, the logical creature he was, realized it had to be something about their current scheme. After all, he barely spoke to team RWBY. Or anyone, really. _Maybe I should work on that._

Anyways, he and the girls on their sister team were in a comfortable state of friendship-by-proxy. They didn't exactly know each other, but if asked they'd probably call each other friends. Neither party had tried to change it before, and there was only one factor that was different now.

As Blake made her way across the room, Ren did wonder why it was her who was attempting to breach the subject. She wasn't exactly the midst talkative herself, more a quiet analyzer.

Was it possible she had noticed something the others hadn't? Ren would have to be careful here with what he said, it was possible a single slip-up could spell game over.

"Hey Ren, do you have a moment? I was hoping to talk to you." And it was obvious from her tone that she meant _alone._ Meaning Ren wouldn't have his team as a means to escape if the conversation went south. She was setting the stage in her favor, and Ren couldn't stop her.

"Sure, give me a second to finish up and I'll follow you out."

The ravenette nodded and headed back out the door, leaving Ren to clean up his studying. But more importantly, leaving Ren to safely send Jaune a scroll message.

 _'Blake might be onto us, how much could she know?'_

Ren hoped his teammate would respond soon. If this was to be a battle of wits and words, he would need every advantage.

* * *

"Dude."

"Yes?"

"Dude!"

"What?"

" _Dude!"_

"WHAT?" Jaune exclaimed to the irritating blue haired boy before him. Seriously, if he didn't understand 'dude' the first time, why would he understand the second of third?

"Today in the library!"

The pair stood in team SSSN's room (or team SN currently?) Sun himself wasn't around, but Neptune had insisted they needed to talk _now._

"What? Do you think I did too much to Yang? Did I mess up?"

"Dude, don't tell me you managed to miss that!" Jaune could only shrug confusedly. Neptune sighed. "No wonder they're questioning your masculinity then. Let me spell it out for you."

"First, Yang pulls you off by yourself, just the two of you. Then, she starts asking you all about yourself, your past, your _girlfriends._ Has she ever asked about this stuff before?"

"Uhm, no, she hasn't."

"And did she seem a bit… different?"

"Yea, she did seem a little off." Neptunes smiled widened. "I think she still felt bad about what happened yesterday."

"Seriously Jaune? _Seriously?!_ How are you not getting this?" the blonde only shrugged, adding to Neptune's frustrations. "Gah! Dude, you're killing me here. I'm trying to get it across that _she's totally into you!_ "

That caught Jaunes attention. "What? Why? When? How?" Really, be only knew the who and where. Hey, almost enough for Clue.

"Getting you on your own? Trying to know you better? Asking about your love life? All classic signs she digs it. And in this case, 'it' is you."

"I'll ask again then: How?! She's never shown any interest in me before. Well, besides interest in making fun of me."

"Some might say _that_ is a sign of interest, you know. But in this case, I believe it has to be your newfound masculinity to be the source of her interest. Obviously, the sudden change from pathetic wimp to confident hunk has caught her attention in all the right ways."

"I guess that would make sense… Wait, what was that about being a pathetic wimp?"

"But this could be the exact opportunity we need!" Neptune continued on as if Jaune had said nothing. "Who would question the masculinity of the man who's dating Yang Xiao-Long, arguably the hottest girl of this year at Beacon! I can see it now; the looks of envy and jealousy from men, the curiosity of women, with you at the center! No one could doubt you!" Neptune paused, a quizzical look on his face. "Hmm, maybe I should date Yang. Just to cement my image."

"Woah, hold up." Jaune stretched his hands out towards his friend. "When did dating come into this conversation?"

"You might not be aware of this, so follow me closely here: when two people like each other they usually start dating."

Jaune mustered his most unimpressed look. "Haha. However, I don't like Yang, at least not romantically anyways. I don't want to date her."

"Ok, the first problem I see here is not being attracted to Yang. Have you seen her? And even if you don't care for looks, she's got a killer personality too, if that's what tightens your pants." The blue haired boy ignored Jaune's sigh. "Secondly, you're really going to say no to getting a date? Your new look must be going to your head faster than I thought."

"No, it's not that. If Yang does like me, and I agree to go out with her, I'll just be leading her on. And all to better my own image. That's not right."

"No, it's not. Which is why I'm not suggesting that."

Jaune looked up in confusion. _What?_

"What I am suggesting." Neptune continued. "Is to give her a chance anyways. Go out on a date or two, give her a chance to win you over. If you still don't feel like it'll work; let her down gently, tell her how you feel. But if you think there's even the smallest chance for it to work out between you, don't you think that you owe it her, _and_ to yourself, to give it a chance?"

Jaune sighed yet again. "You're right, of course. I should give it- her a chance, I _will_ give her a chance." A smile returned to the blondes face. "Thanks, Neptune. I'm not sure if anyone's ever told you this, but you're a good friend."

"Hey, that's why I'm here. And don't worry, Sun's pointed that out enough."

"Speaking of Sun, should we let him and Ren know about all this?"

"Your call bro. Although I might suggest a no for Sun. As much of a bro as he is, completely hopeless with the ladies. Even you must've noticed how he is around Blake. It almost makes me cringe."

Jaune hadn't noticed, but this didn't seem like the time to bring that up. "Heh, I guess so. I think I'll tell Ren though, he gets all weird about knowing this stuff so he doesn't 'mess up his information' or something along those lines."'

The blonde turned, ready to make his way back to his own dorm, but paused in the doorway. "Hey, Nep?"

"Yeah?"

"Silly question, but how would I actually ask Yang out?"

A grin spread across Neptune's face. "Come back in here. I think it's lesson time."

* * *

Blake let out an inner sigh of relief when Ren finally exited team JNPR's dorm. When she had first arrived, he had seemed a bit off, a look which she would almost describe an untrusting on his face. However, it had disappeared now, his usual blank, yet familiar visage having returned.

The pair first began walking in silence, Ren obviously content to allow Blake to get the conversation going.

"So… Ren…" This was off to a good start. "I'm sure you've noticed that Jaune's been acting… differently these past few days, right?"

The boy was quiet for a moment as if considering his words carefully. For a second, Blake almost thought he wouldn't respond at all, but eventually, an answer came, slow and deliberate. "Yes, he's behavior has been slightly different than usual, but it's nothing too unusual."

"Well, I guess you would know since he's been hanging out nearly exclusively with you recently. Along with Sun and Neptune."

Ren nodded in agreement, but said nothing, leaving him and Blake walking along in awkward silence again. The ninja wasn't going to volunteer any information himself, it seemed. Blake just needed to be blunter.

"Do you know why he's been acting differently?"

"I do." Blake felt a sudden rush. "However, I'm not sure Jaune would appreciate me telling others about his own life." Only to deflate again. It was the logical, and right, thing for Ren to do. But couldn't he see they just wanted to help out their friend?

"He talked to Yang about it a bit, I know. He didn't say much though. "

"What did he tell you, exactly? I just want to know how much Jaune feels safe to share, so I don't tell you any more than he's comfortable with."

Damn him with his careful words. He seemed so cautious, like he didn't just want to say any more, but like he was _scared_ to. Blake wished he would be a bit more cooperative.

"Well, he didn't say the exact problem, but they talked a bit about him before it happened, the general idea of what the issue was. He also said that you were helping him with it."

"I see. I'm… surprised he said that much." Was he grinding his teeth? "It's true, he and I are working on this problem, along with the help of Sun and Neptune. That's why the four of us are together so often. But don't worry, it really does seem to be getting better."

"If you guys told us what it was, we could help as well. We _would_ help as well, we want to." Blake practically pleaded.

"It's not that simple. This.. isn't something that everyone should know."

"But you told Sun and Neptune, who you barely knew before this." Blake accused in retaliation.

"I guess the best way to describe this is it's a guy thing. I'm sorry Blake, but it is getting better, Sun and Neptune have been especially helpful, they have experience with this sort of thing."

Blake let out a sigh. She wasn't going to get anything new here. "It's ok Ren. Thanks for talking."

The two parted ways, both feeling slightly frustrated with the outcome. Blake returned to her dorm, deciding it was best to share what little information she had gathered with her team. To her surprise, however, only Yang was present when she entered.

"Hey, any luck?" The blonde immediately inquired. Apparently, Blake's look was the only answer her partner needed, as her face fell a second later. "Damn."

"It wasn't a complete waste," Blake defended. "I didn't learn what the problem was, but I did learn a bit." Yang motioned for her continue with her hands. "Well, Jaune and Ren have been hanging out with Sun and Neptune because the pair were also helping out with the problem. Apparently, they have a fair bit of experience in this area, Ren said. Also, apparently it's a 'guy thing,' whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. That's why Jaune hasn't told any of us about this."

"Well, that's dumb." Blake couldn't help but agree. "Still, it doesn't seem like they're going to tell us about this willingly, at least anytime soon. We'll have to come up with some new approach."

"You know Yang, Ren was quite insistent that the problem was getting better. We could just let them be, maybe see if they'll tell us after Jaune's back to normal."

The blonde stared at her partner for a second, before letting out a snort. "Psh, no. When has letting people have their privacy ever ended well?"

Blake's ear flicked back in annoyance at the comment but said nothing. There was no point, not with Yang. Luckily, even as Yang finished talking, the blondes scroll rang out from her fumbling for a second, Yang managed to extract her scroll, signaling a more formal end to their conversation.

Blake was about to return to her bunk to read, however, Yang's words stopped the faunus a second later.

"Hmm, weird. It's from Jaune."

* * *

 **Yeah, it appears things are still escalating. I'm curious as to if everything will fall apart, creating one huge disaster for everyone involved. Actually, I'm not curious, since I'm the author and know what will happen.**

 **Now, onto the problem; I've had very little time for writing recently. Both work and school have picked up in the past couple weeks, and along with that, the soccer season is starting, which takes up more of my time. It means I have less time to do what I find fun, which is writing these fics.**

 **Updates will be slower, and on top of that, I'm going to slow down work specifically on my second story,** _ **Roads Seldom Traveled.**_ **Before, I was trying to update them equally, but now it makes more sense to focus on one instead. And since this is the more popular story, along with being both more fun and easier to write, it'll be updated more often than the other.**

 **Don't worry if you are reading the other story though, I'll still update it when I can. Hopefully, I'll actually have the next chapter for it in a few days, where I'll talk a bit more about my plans for it in-depth.**

 **For now though, happy reading!**

 **=Dunkacoke=**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Neptune to the Grudging Rescue

"And she said yes?"

"Yes!"

"So you're going out tomorrow?"

"Yes!"

"And you're sure she said 'yes', not 'no'?"

Jaune was fighting really hard not to just get up and storm out on his teammate. The two guys moved back and forth around their dorm room as they talked, making sure Jaune had everything he needed.

And it would have really helped if Ren showed any type of humor on his face to show he was joking.

"Ren, I understand your skepticism, really, I do. But I had Neptune right there, coaching me the whole way through."

"Just… why don't you tell me exactly what she said. Was the word 'yes' actually in her message anywhere?"

The blonde let out a sigh. He could understand some doubt from his teammate at the latest turn of events, but really, this was a bit much. "It was all casual; I sent her a message asking if she wanted to go into Vale on Sunday. She responded with ' _Yeah, sounds fun.'_ That's pretty much it." To help his point, Jaune pretty much shoved his scroll into Ren's face, showing him the messages.

"Wow, this says yes."

Jaune really had to restrain guys urge to punch Ren. Like c'mon, it was getting insulting.

"In other news, Blake tried to grill me for information."

"Oh, poor Blake. Did she punch you?" Jaune asked, a little too enthusiastically.

"No, and I don't think she learned anything helpful either. I do know my way around words." Ren stated with a barely hidden hint of pride in his voice. ' _Heh, the master is still unbeaten.'_

"Well, if we keep this up, our plan should be a full success in no time. Although, I have to say you've been getting a surprising lack of attention on you; good or bad."

"That you've noticed," Ren countered. "Nora's been pestering me about every little change since this started."

"Really? I didn't notice at all. Still, I guess it's been going okay so far, out cover isn't broken."

"Yeah, Nora is pretty easy to distract when you need to. Having grown up with her also helps."

Jaune tried to imagine what that would've been like, before giving up with a shudder. _That_ was not something he thought he would survive.

"Still, after this, we might want to push you into the spotlight for a bit. As much fun as it is to have our friends whiskering behind my back, we're in this for the both of us."

"Alright," Ren nodded his agreement. "Hopefully after this, we can try to change things up."

"Perfect. Now, any chance you own some cologne?"

* * *

Ooh, this is so exciting!" Ruby exclaimed, practically bouncing around the walls of the dorm room. "Jaune's being social again!"

"Calm down, you energetic fool." Her partner snapped back, barely managing to avoid the red bullet which flew around as she got ready. "Just because Jaunes choosing to be social with our team again doesn't mean everything's back to normal. We can't ignore that he had been acting oddly for a while now."

"Yes, but doesn't this mean he's getting better? Maybe he's overcome his problem now! And wants to celebrate by going out for cookies!"

"Possibly, possibly not." Weiss chose to ignore the part about cookies. Somebody else could let Ruby down on that front. "It will depend on how he acts today down in Vale. Speaking of which, would you _hurry up_ Yang!"

"Two seconds!" Sounded from the washroom. "This hair takes effort you know!"

"Trust us, we know. You wouldn't let us _not_ know." Blake grumbled

"What was that, dear partner? I couldn't quite hear you."

"I _said '_ No one will see your hair if we don't make it on time!'"

"Well, _I_ say my hair's worth it. Some of us have more to do than just tie up a bow over our ears."

Weiss just let out a sigh as Blake and Yang got into yet another argument. She loved her team, really she did. But sometimes, just sometimes, it would've felt so cathartic to freeze them all in ice and just sit in peace for once.

Eventually, team RWBY managed to sort themselves out, and began to make their way down to the airship loading area, where Yang has said team JNPR would meet them. Even with Weiss' skepticism, the four of them were hopeful for a normal even out, the eight friends together like before.

Which made it quite confusing when, upon rounding the corner, they were witness to Jaune standing alone in the landing area.

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby, as clueless as ever, immediately ran over to the blonde, who managed to blink once or twice in confusion before being bowled over by the small red missile.

"Uh… Hey, Ruby? And Weiss, and Blake?"

"Forgetting someone, champ?" Yang said, giving her hair a flick for good measure. "So where's your team at?"

"Uhh, yeah… my team…"

"Why Jaune, you didn't try to organize this so you could get a full day out in Vale with three beautiful girls and one cute _underage_ girl did ya, you sly dog?"

Jaune let out an abnormally high pitched laugh. "Ha, of course not. Haha." A long silence followed. "Nora, uh, dragged Ren along to do something just the two of them. Yeah, that's right, since they haven't done much together recently. And Pyrrha…" Another long pause. "She, uh, was feeling a bit under the weather, and so… decided it would be better to stay here and study. Yep, that's what happened." He ended it with an awkward grin. Flawless.

Most of team RWBY studied him with narrowed eyes, but let it go. Nothing he said seemed to out of place. And Jaune is Jaune; unusual was about par for the course.

"So it will be just the five of us, then?"

"What? No! Uh, I mean, no, because… Sun and Neptune are meeting up with us in Vale!" That got some varied reactions. Weiss visibly perked up at the mention of Neptune's name, while Blake's bow seemed to flick back in irritation.

"Yeah, I'll call them now, to let them know we're on our way!"

Quickly, Jaune took his scroll out and punched in a number, turning slightly away from the girls.

" _Jaune? Aren't you on your da-"_

"Neptune! Hey, how you doing?Just letting you know team RWBY are _all_ here and ready to head into Vale!"

" _Wha- What are you talking about? Isn't it supposed to be your and Yang's date right now? Why are you calling me about this?"_

"Yeah, you know, the outing that our two teams were going to have? The one I texted Yang and asked about?"

" _You never did tha-_ _How do you even get into these scenarios?!"_

"And remember how my team couldn't make it, so you said you and Sun are going to meet us in Vale instead?"

" _What? No, I 'm pretty sure I didn't-"_

"Oh, you guys are running a bit late? It's fine, we'll just head into the city and you guys can meet up with us _as fast as you can._ "

"Ugh, _fine. But you owe me_ big _for this bailout!"_

"Great! See you there! Send me a message once you arrive!"Jaune hung up the call and turned back to team RWBY, who all had expressions which were just a little too neutral. "What?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all. C'mon Jaune, let's go find an airship!" And with that, Ruby sprinted off, dragging the poor boy behind and leaving the others to follow.

Weiss turned to her remaining teammates. "So, we all agree Jaune's not back to normal yet?"

"I don't know, that really did seem the most Jaune-like Jaune has been for a while. Forgetful, nervous and mumbling? Classic."

"I'm more concerned with the fact that somehow, despite the fact it was supposed to be us and JNPR, Jaune, and by extension, us, are still hanging out with Sun and Neptune," Blake interjected.

"H-hey, that's not so bad, is it?" Weiss tried to fight back against the faunus' less-than-subtle insult to the pair. "I mean, they're good people at least."

"Yes Weiss, I'm sure _that's_ the reason you love hanging out with Neptune."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Xiao-Long? Are you implying something?"

"Nothing at all, dearest Weiss. Now let's not miss our flight."

* * *

Neptune sighed as he made his way along the streets of Vale, teammate close behind. Just how Jaune had managed to mess this up so badly. It couldn't have been his advice, of course. That was flawless as always. No, someway, somehow, Jaune had managed to turn his date with Yang into... whatever this was that had him awake before noon.

He had also needed to explain to a very annoyed Sun why they had to quickly rush to Vale without really knowing himself. In short, neither of them were very happy.

He checked his scroll again, making sure they were going the right way to reach where Jaune had said to meet up. Some diner or such downtown, he didn't really care. Idly, Neptune wondered how the reparations for the whole train fiasco were coming along. Given nothing was closed down anymore, must've been nearly finished if not completed by now.

Eventually, the pair reached the diner, Neptune practically dragging his half-conscience partner. The place was a small off-white building, decorated in retro red curtains, neon signs, and tiled floor. Against all the other stores and high-rises of downtown, it looked like this place had been transported about 30 years back in time. In the window, Neptune spotted his friends sitting in a booth, all with large glasses in front of them.

Just once. That's all he asked. Just _once_ could Jaune manage to find somewhere cool? Although given the expression on the lone boys face, Neptune realized Jaune might not have actually picked the locale this time.

Just as the blue-haired hunter was wondering if he would be able to get away with just turning around now and heading back to Beacon, team RWBY spotted the pair outside and started to motion them over. ' _Great, there goes that chance.'_ With one last deep breath, he pulled open the door and stepped through into whatever it was Jaune had managed to tangle them up in.

Immediately upon passing the threshold of the diner, Neptune's nose was mugged by the overwhelming sweet smell from inside. It was enough to cause him to physically stagger back and almost enough to slap the faunus behind him awake. Almost

"Woah, what _is_ this place?"

"It's a milkshake bar!" Ruby greeted as the pair made their way over. "It's so awesome! I can't believe I just found out about it recently!"

"It was Ruby's idea that we all come here." Jaune offered as an explanation. "Apparently it's great because it 'combines milk with dessert, in the most awesomest mixture ever.'"

"Hold up," Neptune motioned for everyone's attention. "You mean to tell me that _all_ of you," he paused to look each person in the eyes. "Decided that the best idea while out in Vale, would be to go to milkshake bar when you had the choice to go to an actual, real bar? Name one good reason for that!"

"It's lunchtime."

"On a Sunday."

"And Ruby's underage."

Neptune sighed and put his head into his hands and sighed. HE had his work cut out for him.

* * *

 **If I pretend like nothing happened, will I get away with not updating the story for several months? For real, sorry for just suddenly disappearing without warning. The reason is that for me, writing these stories was a relaxing side-project, but with how busy I got, it was becoming too much to try to continue writing, so I decided to take some time off. After that, I tried to go back several times but just found it really hard to get back into the habit again. But I'm here now, and fingers crossed I should be updating more.**

 **Also, I know (from several months back) that many of you were excited for the Yang-Jaune date coming up, and I'm sorry to say that was never actually planned for the story. I bring your hopes up, only to smack them down.**

 **Another thing, I noticed while re-reading through my story that I mentioned a trip to the Emerald Forest that would take place the next day, then I didn't actually write the trip. I have now updated the chapter so it says the trip is next week, so isn't missing.**

 **I think that's all I need to say, so for now, happy reading!**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: I return from my absence like nothing ever happened.

Despite himself, Ren was not at all surprised when he received several rapid-fire texts from his leader explaining the situation that he'd managed to get himself tangled up in. He _knew_ there was no way Jaune had gotten Yang to go on a date. There had been absolutely no sort of chemistry between them before.

For the pair to suddenly and immediately develop feelings for each other out of the blue? Yeah, right. That sort of thing only happens in bad fanfictions.

Still, he seemed to be stuck on damage control duty (again, he might add) back in Beacon while Jaune, Sun, and Neptune did… whatever was going on down in Vale. And given Jaune had already come up with excuses for everyone else on JNPR, his options were extremely limited in what he could do with Nora and Pyrrha, without Jaune's absence being too problematic.

Oh sure, Pyrrha was "sick" right now so she could be left behind. Ha. Sure, and that lie lasts about as long as it takes for team RWBY to see Pyrrha perfectly healthy later today. Better that she was kept busy with himself and Nora now, to at least have some reason for them to not be with Jaune now.

He could sort out the slight discrepancies in the lies later on. Or Jaune could. That sounded better.

"Nora, Pyrrha? Are you in?" Ren announced while entering their dorm.

"I am! Pyrr's not though. I think she said something about studying in the library. Or maybe working out. Or maybe going to get some food. Or maybe she's going for a walk. Or maybe she's-"

Ren tuned out with a sigh while Nora continued listing every possibility of where Pyrrha might be. Pulling out his scroll, he instead sent the woman in question a quick message, then looked up to continue talking to Nora.

"-maybe going to a secret White Fang meeting to break up the thing single-handedly. Anyways, how are you Renny?"

Tuning back just in time, Ren responded "I'm fine. Jaune's gone out to Vale, so it's just the three of us today." Almost too quick to catch, a blur of emotions passed by his friends usually jubilant face. Only years of being with the girl allowed Ren to catch them, and even then he wasn't sure. It seemed like… disappointment, acceptance, and then, a bit of hope?

Either way, he pressed on "So I was thinking that while we had a free day, the three of us could do something together."

"Okay! Any ideas? Wait, don't we have that essay for Oobleck? Eh, that can be done later. Let's go find Pyrrha!" Nora's response came as one might've expected, but Ren noticed that throughout it all, the ginger girl's face was lit up by a large genuine smile.

* * *

Sun could just barely make out the sound of conversation happening around him. Not just in the immediate area, but also that general low thrum of background noise that's present anywhere crowded. Tail coming up to rub his eye, the faunus tried to force himself out of exhaustion and into attentiveness.

That was, until a wave of some sickly sweet scent sudden struck his sense of smell, doing the job for him.

Trying to discreetly take in his surroundings, the first thing Sun noticed was the people around him, namely Neptune who sat to his left at the head of some stainless steel table, with Jaune and team RWBY in the booths on either side. His subconscious tried to tell him there was something off about this scene, but Sun wasn't listening to it.

He was more wondering when he has left his dorm.

He definitely remembered going to bed in the temporary dorm at Beacon last night. He remembered since he and Neptune had stayed up, probably later than they should've, on the console they'd set up in there. They hadn't left the dorm after that either; they had food and drinks in the room and he couldn't think of another reason to leave. He hadn't even made any plans for today, since he and Neptune had been focused and Jaune and his date.

Ignoring the sense of wrongness that had suddenly popped up again, Sun kept trying to think back to why he might be here now, at a… Wait, where was this?

A more focused look around revealed that he seemed to be back in the 50's. Everything, from the music, the building, and even the food seemed to suggest it. And that's when it finally hit him. Where he was, why he couldn't remember how he got here. Why everything felt so wrong.

Discreetly, he leaned over to Neptune. "Play it cool man, but I think we've traveled back in time."

Neptune startled slightly at the sudden voice but quickly gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I know. This place is totally retro isn't it?" He whispered back. "Don't worry, I'm trying to work on getting us all to head out."

Sun blinked for a second. Was he trying to fit in so that it didn't seem suspicious? While not a bad idea, they really should've been working on a way back.

"D'you know how we got here? Was there some freak electrical accident? Someone lost control of their semblance?"

This time, Neptune spared an odd look for his partner. "No… we walked. You aight bro?"

Now, you could accuse Sun of being many things, but slow was not one of them. After the briefest of pauses, Sun chuckled quietly. "Yeah, just continuing the joke. Guess it was already dead." Neptune's concern disappeared, and with a shake of his head and a smile, he turned back to the group.

It was obvious: Sun hadn't just gone back in time, but also to some different reality. That's why everyone was acting like this was all normal: because to them, it was. Of course, that made everything much more complicated for the faunus. He now had to find out what happened, figure out his way back, and avoid arousing suspicion, all by himself. Certainly, it was asking a lot, but if anyone could do it, Sun knew he could.

Now, to use this time while nobody was bothering him to plan.

* * *

It was about this point in Jaune's life that he came to the realization that he had been put on this Remnant for one reason, and one reason only; to provide comedy to some divine being.

That really could be the only explanation to the situation he was in, as he sat at a table with Neptune, who was still arguing with team RWBY about going to a bar at noon on Sunday, and Sun sat there muttering to himself, on what was supposed to be a date.

He briefly considered the idea that this was karma for lying to his friends about what he and Ren were doing, but really, this seemed way too much of a retaliation for what he'd done. He supposed that he _should_ try to fix this situation in some way, or at least salvage it so it wasn't a complete trainwreck, but honestly, that seemed like way too much effort for something that would invariably just go wrong again, with his luck.

Instead, he contented himself with motioning for the waitress and asking for another milkshake. Milkshakes were simple. Milkshakes he could understand. Milkshakes wouldn't try to ruin his life in twelve different ways. Maybe that's why Ruby liked them so much.

While everything continued to crash and burn around him, Jaune decided to send Ren a quick message to see what he was doing, with the hope that at least one of them would be having a productive day.

Stowing his scroll away with a sigh, and noticing that no progress was being made between the others, Jaune decided that he had to end his moping after all and finally joined in the conversation.

"Why don't we go see a movie?" There, that was a good idea. It would kill off some time, and theoretically, they'd all stop bickering once they got into the theatre. At least it would mean the day wasn't a complete was-

"Nah, there's nothing good in theatres. I checked." Or Yang would just reject the idea out of hand. Okay, that's fine too.

Trying not to be offended, Jaune took another sip of his milkshake and tried to think of something else to do in Vale. They'd (him, Ren Sun and Neptune that was), had been down shopping last weekend, and Jaune felt no need to go again right away. Of course, they could check out the Vytal festival fairgrounds, but they still weren't quite finished, and it would probably be packed. What else could they even do? Jaune wasn't even from Vale, and he'd spent basically all his time here up at Beacon! How was he supposed to know what there was for teenagers?

"Laser-Tag?"

"Ooohh, that's a great idea! Yang, Weiss, Blake? Can we go?" Well, at least Ruby seemed to like his suggestion.

Looking back, Jaune honestly wasn't exactly sure _why_ he had thought that going laser-tagging with a group of people who, for the most part, use guns almost every day of their lives to fight massive creatures, was a good idea. He quickly ducked behind one of the blocks randomly scattered around the area, firing a few unaimed shots over his shoulder at for good measure.

It hadn't helped that the people who ran the place had taken one look at the group, had recognized them as students at Beacon, and had put them into their own personal game.

Sure, it made _sense_ not to lump Hunters in with civilian children, but on a selfish note, Jaune disliked the idea. He was fairly certain he had the ability to shoot kids, at least.

And that was definitely something he should never think again.

Still, he took a quick second to prepare, then as quickly as he could, made a dash to the ramp that would lead him to an upper level of the arena. Trying to keep behind cover as much as he could on the way, he zig-zagged forward, hearing the electronic beeps that meant people were firing. Of course, that didn't mean much without projectiles, as you couldn't exactly tell if the shots were aimed at you, and there was always at least one person shooting, but still.

Even with his, dare he say excellent, evasive maneuvers, Jaune still heard the distinctive sound of his vest being hit, along with the quick flash of color that let him know that he hadn't _quite_ made it across the open space in time. It had probably been Ruby or Neptune, those two being absolute monsters in this game due to their weapons, even more so that the others. Blake, Yang, and Sun all had what would probably be described as close-range weapons, so were slightly, and Jaune meant slightly, less likely to hit you at range. Weiss, of course, was probably on a level more comparable to himself, but surprisingly Jaune took little comfort in that when he was constantly getting shot anyways.

Hearing footsteps approach, Jaune quickly tore himself out of his head and prepared for someone to turn the corner. Small victories he supposed; in a 7-person free-for-all, even he and Weiss could sometimes catch someone unaware.

As the first flash of movement appeared around the corner, Jaune started to fire. It was only after he had shot the person, in fact, that he realized they had come around with their hands up.

"Hey, hey. Chill. I'm here to talk."

"Sorry, automatic reactions." Jaune apologized to Neptune as the blue-haired boy crouched beside him in cover.

"Yeah, all good. Just thought he should decide on what the plan if after this. Not gonna lie, it'll be basically impossible to make you look manly here. Any situation we could fabricate would be a bit too unrealistic. No offense."

"Yeah, fair enough," Jaune conceded, not bothering to be insulted. "I was mostly just trying to think of anything to get us out of that place. And _not_ going to a bar." He quickly added when Neptune opened his mouth to respond. "This was the first idea that came to my head."

"Yeah, well, regardless of what some people might wrongly think are bad ideas, we still need to think of something for after this." He quickly reached over and fired some blind shots around the corner mindlessly.

"Does Sun have any ideas?"

"Honestly, I'm sure he has any brains right now. He keeps muttering about 'needing to get back' and looking around like he expects to get attacked. Honestly, I think I might've hit his head while dragging him into Vale."

"Well, can't we go back to Beacon after this?"

"What? Of course not. That would mean the day was wasted. He can't come back from this empty-handed. Sure, this isn't the date we were hoping for, but that doesn't mean we can use it."

"But-"

"No buts. Sorry Jaune, this is for your benefit, even if it doesn't feel it."

"Fine, but you need to come up with an idea, then. I have no ideas on what we could do."

"Don't you worry about that." Neptune looked over at him with a smirk. "When has your bro Neptune ever steered you wrong?" And with that, Neptune stood up, fired off 3 shots in rapid succession, and dashed back into the fray.

Still, Jaune supposed he was right. Ren had responded to his earlier message to say he was keeping Nora and Pyrrha occupied and happy for the day, but they still didn't want to head back to Beacon too early. If possible, it would be best to keep RWBY away from the girls of JNPR for the rest of the day, just in case they figured out something they shouldn't.

And besides, Neptune was right. Every idea he'd had so far had been great. Surely, this would just be one more cunning plan.

* * *

 **Y'know, to be completely honest, the main reason I'm updating this is because there's still been a steady stream of people who have been following it even though I had basically stopped writing this. I did try to start again a few times, I promise. It just became hard for a few reasons, like the start of university for one. Another might be that, while I assume I knew where this story was going 11 months ago when I started it, or maybe even 5 months ago at the last update, I have absolutely no idea where it's going now. Jaune and I are literally deciding what to do in unison, that is to say while I write.**

 **So while I'd love to say I'm going to start updating at least semi-regularly again, I don't want to lie to you. I have somewhere around** _ **no idea**_ **if I'll be continuing this within the next couple weeks or next couple years. Or at all. Tbh, I'm basically a passenger in my life right now anyway.**

 **But yeah, hope you enjoyed, lots of love, yadda yadda:**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


End file.
